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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Steelseries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming mouse

Right so I may have been outed as a bit of a WoWophile with my many characters and such. I usually play with the Belkin Nostromo N52, which is a great piece of hardware, nicely customisable and extremely functional.

So when the Steelseries WoW mouse with it's 15 mouse buttons was announced I have to admit I was straight in there with a pre-order. Which incidentally was pegged for a November 2008 release date (to coincide with the release of the latest expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King)

After over a few weeks of waiting on December 11th I get this in my email:

Arraywith kind regards,SteelSeries Order Support

Seriously that is all I got just the word "Array", so I reply:

Hi there,Not sure what 'Array' means, is the mouse now available?

They reply:

The demand for the World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse has been much higherthan anticipated, even compared to our most optimistic forecasts. As aresult, the mouse is still delayed, despite our best efforts working aroundthe clock to ramp up production.We are writing this update to inform you that the order is still on-trackto be delivered before Christmas. We are doing everything we can to get itto you as soon as possible, but cannot give you an exact date at this pointin time.

Blah blah Merry Xmas, Steelseries brings the gift of Lies.

So I wait a while longer levelling my Death Knight with (shock-horror) a 3 button mouse. Finally on 31 December I get the mail saying that the mouse is now available so I do my thing, enter my credit card details, and part with my hard-earned £90 and play the waiting game for it to arrive. And it does so on 6th January, but since I was a bit pre-occupied with post New years festivities I didn't get to try it out till the following weekend. I messed about with the software a bit, and jumped right in, not overly impressed with the buttons or the lack of customisation, but it did have a cool flashy LCD that changed colour and that kept me entertained for a while. The next day however I noticed that the buttons were a bit sticky and squeaky, and as the WoW session proceeded I noticed that the buttons were actually sticking down and staying there pretty much rendering the mouse useless!

Raging that the mouse was actually impeding my gameplay I had to switch back to my laptop's mouse trackpad!

The next day, still bitter that my mouse had turned into a £90 paperweight, I wrote an email of complaint to Steelseries:

Hi There, I recently bought the WoW MMO Gaming mouse. Upon receiving my mouse I noticed that the main Left and Right buttons were squeaking when they were pressed, I figured that this may just be teething troubles but last night I found that the buttons are now sticking. I have used the mouse only a few times since receiving it last week. Could you please send me details on an exchange for the mouse.

I also decided to drop a mail to WoWinsider.com to get their view on the situation be warned the following article has content of a WoWish nature:

Hey,So I pre-ordered the WoW MMO Gaming mouse from Steelseries. And after 2 months of delays due to demand, it finally arrived last week. To begin with I was impressed, the buttons are accessible, despite being made out of metal It is very light, and the software that comes with it is very easy to use.However after a few WoW sessions using it I'm starting to get well more than a little disgruntled with it. Firstly the software is a little... annoying, it has given you many pre-programmed macros and basic commands, but rather than binding it to the actual functions it manually types commands in. For example you can set up a single button press for dismounting, which is essentially [Return]/dismount[Return]. I think I was actually hoping to set up the mouse to specific functions in the WoW keybinding interface as "Mousebutton 12" or just actually bind it to a keyboard function. Also when the software is active it seems to remap everything in WoW e.g. I pressed "M" to bring up my map screen and my character jumped. Secondly the hardware, I mentioned it was light, to be honest it is too light, It just seems odd that a mouse with so much metal feels so flimsy. It's corded, yeah I know that response times go up with direct connections but seriously, corded just seems a little archaic nowadays, though the cable is pretty funky it is covered in material and makes it seem like a USB rope. Finally, and this is my biggest gripe, the main left and right buttons are broken... After 1 week playing (2-3 times), the buttons started squeaking, I figured it was teething problems, but it eventually got so bad (after about an hour) that the buttons would click down and then take a few seconds to un-click like there had been chewing gum jammed under the buttons.Right now I am in the process of enquiring about their exchange policy, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't get a full refund.I was wondering if you or any of your readers had similar problems with this mouse?P.S. I didn't mention it does have a cool LCD light thing that you can change to any colour for any character, but to be honest it is rather here nor there, it's cool enough but since you hand is covering it up 99% of the time it is somewhat defunct. Regards,Richie./dismount

3 days later and I still had not received any word back on this process, I had also googled to see if anyone else had the same problem and I found very similar complaints on a number of sites. Which was pretty much the straw that broke the camels back, I decided that i just wanted a refund.

So I checked the site out again, It seem that they had updated it and they now had a rather ugly On-line form for processing support requests. Since my previous email had fallen on deaf ears I submitted another request (13th January):

I recently bought the WoW MMO Gaming mouse . Upon receiving my mouse I noticed that the main Left and Right buttons were squeaking when they were pressed, I figured that this may just be teething troubles but last night I found that the buttons are now sticking. I have used the mouse only a few times since receiving it last week. I'm not overly happy with the product at all and upon googling my problem I have found other users with similar issues. As such I am unsure if a replacement would satisfy me especially after the delay and the money I paid. I would like to request details on obtaining a full refund.

Which I actually just (15th January) received a response to:

Thank you for your interest in SteelSeries Professional Gaming Gear. This is a known issue and SteelSeries has already taken the necessary action to correct this problem. This is not an official fix, though other customers have found it successful, however please try this: Lift the left & right click mouse button up with your finger nail after half an inch until you hear a snap, then let go. If that doesn't help you, please go back to your original point of purchase to get a replacement unit or credit. If you bought it directly from us, please provide your order # on this request and we will contact you back for the RMA replacement once we have the replacement units in our warehouse. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding. Thanks, SteelSeries Support

Well I haven't had that problem you are having since I really cant play long with mine. IT SHOCKS MY HAND. yes you read correctly it shocks me and then turns off and I have to wait until it turns back on to continue playing. This renders leveling my mage to 80 very difficult. I paid $100.00 US dollars for it I mean that's not too much so I am sitting here debating on if I should take it apart and ground the casing of the unit or return it and spend the money on another game LOL.

I tried one of these at Blizzcon, the buttons were flimsy and spongy, the build quality dreadful, the side buttons "dangled" and seemed to almost fall off when I clicked them, the whole thing felt cheap, plastic-y and just awful to use.

So I got an MX Revolution instead and a VX Revolution for my laptop. It cost less, does more and works on my MacBook Pro.

I've tried pulling out the buttons and tbh it seems to have worked (holding thumbs). I was well disappointed when this thing arrived and immediately gave me this problem amongst others.

The other problem I speak of is the laser. I finally figured out that I need to get a new mouse mat cause my cloth one seems to disagree with the mouse in the xtreme. I'm using a magazine for the time being and that seems to have solved the problem. Presumably theyve designed the mouse to work 'optimally' with one of their mats?!

I had a similar issue with the left mouse button after an hour worth of use. Worse however is that the mouse4/mouse5 clicks weren't being recognized in WoW! I could navigate pages in Explorer or Firefox, but trying to use a mouse 4 bind in WoW did nothing. I returned this item the very next day for a full refund and went back to my MX Revolution.

You're not the only person suffering from this - if you read the customer reviews on Newegg, you'll see everyone complaining of bad hardware and buggy software. Do yourself a favor and get a Razor mouse - at least those guys know how to make a real gaming mouse.

plugged in this mouse and immediately the sound in my Plantronics headset started squeeling and had horrible static.. Nothing seems to work to fix it. Opened a customer service request with Steelseries customer support online and it has been over a week and still no reply. Taking this piece of crap back!!!

Just received my wowmouse, 17/1/09, after waiting since October when I ordered it. First thing i noticed was the side buttons difficult to opperate, but the top buttons are fine.My main complaint is when I plug my headphones in so as not to disturbe the other half, or to use skype, the sound goes weired, metalic like a Darlek, I have sent an email to steelseries but, not heard back from them yet. A bit annoyed considering the cost of the mouse, will think about getting a refund.

There's nothing "World of Warcraft" about this mouse besides a skinned programming software and a little logo on the hardware. Seamless integration? Ha! It's exactly the same as any other macro-capable mouse, it's just got 15 buttons.

What makes me angry about this mouse? It promises more than it can deliver.

I just got mine after preordering in November. Took 2+ months to ship it to me, and took me 1 hour to know it was complete and utter fail.

Took a video of it and wrote my own review here:http://www.wemultibox.com/blogs/vyndree/steelseries-world-warcraft-mmo-mouse

I had the same issue with this mouse. I got it yesterday. It seemed to work fine when I plugged it in at work on my laptop. Then I plugged it in at home and it worked like sheit. The mouse pointer would stick and it would jump all over the place. I thought that it may be a mouse defect, because I have one of those high quality game mouse pads. And it works like a charm on my Logitech mouse. But today it worked again at work just fine. I guess I need to get another mouse pad and see if that works.

i preordered it back in November still not got it but after reading the complaints on loads of forums im thinking to cancel my order of it stick with my mx revolution or get a different mouse for gaming

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

3. Often, my left and right buttons fail to function. I mean that I click, but it just doesn't respond. I have to alt-tab out and click around and then it comes back, but only for a while.

Sadly, before this stuff started happening, I really enjoyed the extra buttons provided by the mouse. So much so that I'm desperate to see if these issues can't be ironed out. Unlike some posters, I have been able to adapt to the mouse for the most part, but shocks and inoperable buttons?

unaccepatble.

I'm going to look for another mouse and complain to the manufacturer. So much potential, such a big let down. : (

I've not purchased one of these mice but the new company SteelSeries is horrible and most of there products will not work with vista cuz of the .NET update. After a few days I realized that they only have 1 person for customer service which is the saddest bunch of bullshit I've ever herd of.... next to Blizzard thinking of having Uwe Bowl direct there WoW movie.. seriously Blizz needs to work with better ppl/companies (FYI they thankfully didn't go with Uwe Bowl)

So i got the mouse the day after I got laid off from laying some pipe in Indiana with a gift card from the company i was just working for, and I was stoked!I hadn't been able to play WoW for a few months and I wanted to dust off my priest and Death Knight with a friggin' BANG!!!, Baby!I plug the thing in....after trying to figure out how to open the grazy thing. you need like 450 Lockpicking to even get the thing out.Anyhow, I plugged it in after installing the software (Vista machine mind you); and I got the customizable WoW tool loaded to get my DK running full steam.Color are cool, the drag and drop shit is neat, and the different Profile settings for each character is pretty wicked too. the buttons are comfortable...the mouse is cool looking, and it feel right.Alright...got the game loaded. 'Ick'...hey buddy :-)...loading....alright...let's go clear Gnomer for the Achievement and get used to this puppy...Death and Decay map works....strike maps work....dismount is cool...more forward works...move backwards WTF!?!?'Please install optical software for your keyboard..yaddayadda'huh?Okay that's weird...let's try again.'please install optical..blah blah blah'Hmmm...nothing on google about this.I go to open my ingame map and the thing SHRINKS to the size of a postage stamp. I try to CTRL+scroll to make it larger...it get larger...THEN SHRINKS AGAIN!I try it on my desktop...my icons just get incredibly tiny..the size of a pin head almost.I have tried numerous fixes for this problem, but none work. After the first time, I even got the blue screen of death. did a restart and uninstalled the bastard just to get a persisting error from the previous installation.Needless to say, I'm back to using my 3-button Dell mouse *joy* to explore Northrend.Imma take it back...go buy a new game and get the Unicron Transformer from Toys r us...screw u SteelSeries.

"Shudda, cudda, wudda"I SHUDDA researched before I bought this "paper weight!" Too late. It's sitting here on my desk as I write this. The steelseries "WoW" mouse hardware seems fine.....the software is TOTALLY unreliable. The mouse works fine as just a simple mouse without the game software installed. Install the game software and it does unpredictable things...like the fifteen buttons, in-game, not working or doing unpredictable actions, and, the pointer freezing in-game and/or out of game with subsequent loss of computer control. So, the software, IMHO, is bad, bad, bad. I CUDDA not purchased this had I just read some blog analysis of this mouse. I've uninstalled, and re-installed the software numerous times...on two different HP desk tops...including a hot new HP FIREBIRD....but alas, the same issues recur each time. I sent Steel an email through their website three weeks ago...no response, yet. I think they are overwhelmed with the reported hardware and software issues. You'd think they would have alfa and beta tested this with real, live gamers before offering it for sale. I WUDDA thrown it in the trash but for the $100 price tag (and there's not much hope getting a timely refund)....I'll just wait for Steel to solve the software issues and publish a fix. Thier company's reputation is riding on this....I mean eleven million plus potential customer base should not be waved off. Right?

The fix for the squeaky buttons actually works. What they tell you to do is just safely pop the l/r buttons off. After popping my left button off once it stopped squeaking. Just go slow and lift from the front.

A problem I'm having, that no one seems to have mentioned. (Using Windows XP)

For me, the hardware is fine, 0 problems with the mouse itself, the software is a bit annoying, considering you can't map anything off of your main action bar. Other than that, it seems to work fine, EXCEPT, I can not change the mouse color anymore, no clue why, it's just stuck on red.

"The fix for the squeaky buttons actually works. What they tell you to do is just safely pop the l/r buttons off. After popping my left button off once it stopped squeaking. Just go slow and lift from the front."

I was going to play world of warcraft when i happened upon this blog entry and the assorted comments. Thank god, after reading some of the things you whiny pussies wrote i think i'll give it a miss. "WAH WAH WAH, THE SHITEY MOUSE I BOUGHT FOR MY SHITEY GAME GIVES ME SHOCKS!!!" Its a design feature to teach you cunts a lesson.

I had one on order for 6 months up here in Canada, but found it on a shelf in the states over the weekend.

I'd read the poor reviews, but wanted to satisfy my curiosity after all this time, so I disposed of some disposable income and picked one up.

For starters my buttons feel like they're made out of cheap ass plastic, as in really cheap ass for the $ i paid..WTF?!?

It gives me the tingles in my fingers and i thought i had a major issue with RSI after playing for 5 hours straight but no, apparantly it's some issue where there's electricity being leaked out onto the chasis. I want to return mine but their tech support hasn't gotten back to me. So much for money well spent.

I think im going to hit up a G5 or the mamba, which is kinda too expensive. there's even a bunch of guys suing blizzard for it.. lol http://petitiononline.com/wowmouse

seems like there's so much complaints about the mouse in every forum i searched for. wtf

I just bought the MMO mouse and my HP Firebird 802 will NOT BOOT with this thing plugged in! Have submitted a support request to SS, but am thinking for returning it to Gamestop today anyway. This BLOWS.

Well, my mouse works fine :x, the software setup works, the thumb buttons take abit getting used to, but I've gotten used to it, they probably could have made more space for the thumbs, really my only complaint, but it just takes abit longer getting used to.

I don't get the "expensive pos" thing, I've had other mouses that were way more expensive than this, some was close to twice the price, and they had severe flaws, razer boomslang is one, wasted _4_ in a month.

I actually prefere the Roccat Kone mouse, but the scrool wheel died on mine >< and can't find a shop with a v.2 roccat mouse, so tried this one out and, well it's been doing what it promised so far.

Btw, not sure how on earth the writer could mistake the plastic that looks like metal as actual metal.

I guess what it all comes down to is this, every product will have unhappy users, it doesnt matter what it is, this mouse is no different, if you expect to buy a mouse that you want to feel like you were born with it and use 30 sec on setting it up, don't buy this mouse, but if you do realise that new mouses can take time to get used to, and don't mind spending an hour or so on setting up your character, well give it a try, works fine for me.

I kind of doubt the truth behind this story, no actally I'm lying. I doubt the intelegence of the person who writes this blog. Thinking that this mouse is actually made of metal just proves your a damn moron and shouldn't come close to a computer in the first place.

Why don't you just stick to a ten dollar mouse and use it for what you do best: jack off to internet porn.

HAHAHAHA. I can't stop laughing. Idiot.

P.S. Don't worry moron, I wil keep reading your blog because you just made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself.

Very interesting... When I bought my mouse from Best Buy, my left mouse button had the same problem. Throwing caution to the wind, I pulled the button up, and it snapped. I panicked, thinking I broke something.

But all was well, I just pushed the mouse button back down and it ran great since then... until it had an encounter with some splashing tea. :(